Scotland's migration think tank
Building better a migration future for everyone.
Turning research and recommendations into real world change.
We connect thinking and doing.
Our Approach
Migration Policy Scotland plays a pivotal role in meeting the need for greater capacity on migration in Scotland. Our evidence-led approach considers the full spectrum of immigration routes and reasons that bring people to Scotland. Our work engages with the wide range of policy areas, institutional systems and social contexts that migration impacts. We mainstream migration into wider social and economic policy thinking. We work in ways that connect thinking and doing to unlock new solutions to real world challenges. Our mission is to build a better migration future for everyone.
Migration Policy Scotland offers a home for insight, engagement and learning. We foster the connections and conversations that bring people together to move forward on the complex and cross-cutting issues that migration impacts. We pioneer inclusive approaches to integrate lived experience into policy work through our policy laboratories and our migrant lived experience panel. Our work crosses boundaries and bridges distances.
Migration Policy Scotland fosters insight and dialogue on migration. We bring together learning, lived experience and the realities of migration on the ground.
Migration Policy Scotland:
- Builds insight infrastructure to support better informed dialogue on migration. We work to build the knowledge base needed to support evidence-led thinking and debate on migration. Since 2023 we produce an annual representative survey of Attitudes to Immigration in Scotland. This enables decisionmakers to track and understand public attitudes in Scotland. We are working to extend our observatory function.
- Builds capacity among migrants in Scotland. We equip migrants to engage more effectively as part of Scotland’s communities. We do this by working closely with migrants on our Lived Experience Panel, fostering migrant talent as part of our ‘diversity in policymaking’ internship and through training and coaching offered through our capacity and leadership development programme (to be launched in 2026).
- Fosters learning and collaboration. Our research and events extend the knowledge base on migration in Scotland in relation to significant policy issues, such as poverty and demographics, and on key groups of interest, such as EU nationals and Hong Kongers. Our policy laboratories bring together practitioners and policymakers to harness the collective experience and expertise of those working directly with migrants to address persistent challenges.
Migration Policy Scotland’s approach to changemaking goes beyond reports and recommendations. We work together with a wide range of individuals and organisations to develop and implement new solutions.
Find out more:
Our People
Staff
MPS Director, Dr Sarah Kyambi, is an expert on UK immigration policy with an exceptional track record of securing change. She leads MPS work to promote better insight and dialogue on migration and connects perspectives from Scotland to UK-wide debates. Her work includes:
- Designing research and insight infrastructure that improves the evidence base on migration in Scotland and increases opportunities for constructive and well-informed exchange
- Spearheading fresh thinking that takes into account the full spectrum of migration experiences and how migration is changing to support the ability of stakeholders to address the realities of migration on the ground as they unfold
- Fostering capacity building and leadership development among migrant communities in Scotland. MPS hosts a growing migrant community of practice centred on MPS’ Migrant Lived Experience Panel and supported by training programmes and internships for migrants.
Sarah founded Migration Policy Scotland in 2021 in response to the need for greater policy capacity on migration in Scotland identified through a scoping exercise funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Her experience working for think tanks in Edinburgh, London and Brussels showed her the power of bringing different actors together to discuss and learn when shaping policy responses.
Sarah has high-level experience of research-driven policy influencing on migration. She has worked with government, funders, migrant communities and third sector organisations. Prior to founding MPS she led several projects that have changed policy thinking and practice. These include:
- Contributing to shaping Scottish Government’s 2020 migration proposals and the establishment of its Independent Expert Advisory Group on Migration and Population (2018-20)
- Leading work on new immigrant communities at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) which alerted politicians, policymakers, and the media to significant changes in UK immigration and settlement patterns in 2005. The resulting report was the most widely covered in IPPR’s history and the focus of the BBC born abroad webpages. It led to the coining of the term ‘superdiversity’ . The web pages won BBC Digital Project of the Year, 2005.
- Authoring the first UK report exploring scope for regionalisation within the UK’s immigration system: ‘Room for Manoeuvre’ (2009). This became the focus of a Scottish Government National Conversation Roundtable with Minister Mike Russell. It also underpinned the regional immigration policy adopted by the UK Liberal Democrats. When regionalisation gained renewed salience in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, she developed this work further with colleagues at the University of Edinburgh in a report evaluating the options for differentiation in 2017.
- Developing the first CoSLA guidance for Local Authorities in Scotland on migrant entitlements and eligibility for public services (2012).
Sarah is a seasoned media commentator with over 100 interviews, comment and press articles in mainstream media across the UK and globally. She was an expert contributor to the BBC documentary: ‘Who Lives in Scotland’’, (the programme won the UK Analysis in Government Award in Communications, 2023).
Sarah has been active in the UK migration sector for over 25 years, working with migrant communities and on migrants rights in a variety of roles. Currently, she is proud to be a Trustee at the UK Refugee Council.
Previous roles include: Policy Director at the Migrants’ Rights Network, Director at Migrants Rights Scotland, Trustee at Asylum Aid and Legal Caseworker at the Refugee Legal Centre. Her volunteering has spanned a variety of roles since becoming involved in STAR as a student in he 1990s. She has been an asylum seeker befriender with the British Red Cross and contributed to numerous campaigns, initiatives and community groups. In 2015 she co-founded Edinburgh Churches for Sanctuary mobilising faith groups to ensure Scotland’s capital city participated in refugee resettlement programmes.
Sarah holds a PhD in Law and Social Theory from Birkbeck College, University of London (2002).
MPS Associate Director, Professor Rebecca Kay, is an expert on migration issues in Scotland. She has over 25 years’ experience of social research and is particularly skilled in qualitative research including participatory and action research. She is passionate about the importance of a considered, evidence-based, and holistic approach to migration policy, which better reflects the benefits and challenges migration brings, the vulnerabilities migrants experience and the contributions they make.
Rebecca has extensive experience of working directly with policymakers, service providers, employers, host communities and migrants. She designed and led a large 5-year study of migration from Eastern Europe to Scotland involving collaborations with local authorities, community development organisations, employers, museums, and migrant associations in urban and rural Scotland.
- The project brought together expertise from learned and lived experience, recognizing the value and insights which migrants, host communities and professionals working directly on migration issues bring as catalysts for change.
- It produced reports for policy makers and practitioners and community-based action research initiatives.
She has also been involved in research on issues relating to language learning and migrant integration in Scotland.
Rebecca is chair of the Scottish Government’s Expert Advisory Group on Migration and Population which provides advice to government on Scotland’s migration needs and challenges and presents policy options and analysis through a series of regular reports.
Rebecca has a PhD in modern languages and cultures from the University of Bradford (1997) and was Professor in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Glasgow (1999-2023).
MPS Research Assistant, Leri Price holds an MA (Hons) in Arabic from the University of Edinburgh and an MA in Public Policy from the University of York. She is currently completing a doctorate at Heriot-Watt University where her research explores Syrian women’s experiences of home in Scotland. Outside of her academic work, Leri has volunteered with a migration organisation in Edinburgh.
MPS Participation Officer, Anissa Thabet, holds a BA degree in Political Sciences and Public Policy from the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain), and a MSc in Human Rights and Equality from the University of Glasgow.
Anissa has almost a decade of experience in working on migration-related matters, with experience in both research and policy, as well as frontline work. She is currently working as a Senior Community Researcher for Edible Estates. Her previous roles have included Human Mobility Coordinator for North Africa with Oxfam Novib, and Family Rights Advisor at the Scottish Refugee Council.
MPS Diversity in Policymaking Intern, Jomana, is an advocate and storyteller from Gaza with lived experience of displacement. She is currently studying for an MSc in Global Migration and Social Justice at the University of Glasgow. Her work focuses on refugee protection, forced migration, and social justice. She has documented the stories of Palestinians displaced to Egypt and contributed to research on the mental health of young refugees with UNESCO. Through her roles with Refugees International, UN Women, and the UN Youth Advisory Panel, she amplifies refugee voices and works toward more inclusive and compassionate migration policies.
MPS Diversity in Policymaking Intern, Shayan, is a Chevening Scholar from Pakistan currently pursuing her Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Edinburgh.
She has over 4 years of experience working for research and advocacy initiatives focused on refugee rights, sexual and reproductive rights, climate justice, and gender equality.
Her previous role was Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at Forum for Dignity Initiatives.
Trustees
MPS Chair, Grace McGill WS, is a Solicitor in private practice in Scotland with a career of almost 30 years dedicated to the practice of UK Immigration and Refugee law.
She holds a Masters degree in International Human Rights Law. She was the founding and Senior partner of MCGILL & Co, a specialist Immigration law firm based in Scotland, recognised by the legal 500 for the last 7 years as the leading firm in the field with Grace herself recognised as the leading individual for the last 6 years. She and her firm joined Burness Paull LLP in 2021.
Grace has been admitted as an accredited specialist in Immigration law by the Law Society of Scotland and is an appointed trainer & Trustee for the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (ILPA) serving on the Board since 2014. She has been admitted to the Society of the Writers to the Signet (WS) and serves on Council and is also a member of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Law Society of Scotland. She is the Principal author of the Immigration Law Chapter for Stair Memoria lEncyclopaedia and a contributor for Lexis Nexis and the International Bar Association. Due to her extensive practice, she has been admitted as a foreign Legal Consultant by the Supreme Court in Texas and is admitted an international associate of the American Immigration Practitioners Association.
Shaina Gabi is currently the Advice Services Manager for Immigration at Citizens Advice Edinburgh. Her recent work in developing the immigration service has led to the organisation becoming the first CAB in Scotland to be accredited to OISC level 2, ensuring free accessible immigration advice to safeguard migrant rights.
With over 7 years in the CAB service, Shaina has focused on the essential provision of holistic advice recognising the intersection between navigating the complicated rules and entitlements of the immigration system and addressing inequalities and poverty reduction. With a drive to ensure policy is grounded in these nuanced realities of migration, Shaina has sat on migrant lived experience panels including JustCitizens supported by JustRight Scotland, and Migration Policy Scotland’s own LEx Panel.
Shaina is a certified Immigration Adviser to OISC level 2, and holds an MA in International Relations from Edinburgh University.
MPS Secretary, Dr Rachel Marangozov has over 20 years’ experience working on migrant integration and has both learned and lived experience of disadvantage and poverty.
Rachel has twice held expert/advisory roles with both the UK Parliament and the European Commission and is currently a member of the Scottish Government’s Expert Advisory Group on Migration and Population. She has a strong record in harnessing robust evidence to influence policy, including for clients such as the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). At the European level, she has developed several benchmarking toolkits and policy recommendations in direct engagement with migrant communities themselves, feeding this up to Member States and the European Commission to help shape improvements to the European Social Fund.
Rachel is currently a Director of MigrationWork CIC, which helps communities, policymakers and practitioners across Europe respond to migration in practical and evidence-based ways. Prior to this, she worked at ippr and the Institute for Employment Studies (IES), where she developed a strong understanding of ‘what works’ in addressing labour market disadvantage. She holds MPhil and PhD degrees from the University of Cambridge
Lauren Roberts currently works in the Scottish Government to support the growth of Scotland’s economy and offshore wind supply chain. She is an accomplished policy and project professional with extensive experience in managing interdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder initiatives.
Prior to her move to the Civil Service, Lauren spent 14 years in research administration at the University of Glasgow. This included programme management for the UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts £4.5m international research portfolio, and the £2m Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Researching Multilingually at Borders project.
She also helped develop several internationally recognised research networks, driving new partnerships and fostering collaboration to help grow research income and deliver impact, including Glasgow Refugee, Asylum and Migration Network (GRAMNet); Glasgow Centre for International Development (GCID); and Glasgow Human Rights Network (GHRN).
She holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of Glasgow, a MSc from the Open University and is a certified project manager.
Sounding Board
Professor Christina Boswell, is an expert on UK and European immigration policy.
In particular, the role of expert knowledge in policy-making and political debate. She has served as consultant for a range of governments and international organisations, including the European Commission, European Parliament, OECD, UN High Commission for Refugees, and UN Global Commission on Migration. She currently serves as Chair of the Scottish Government’s Expert Advisory Group on Migration and Population. Christina has extensive experience of research management, including as Dean of Research for the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Edinburgh University, where she is responsible for research strategy and support for over 2,200 academic staff. From August 2021 she will take up the role of Vice President (Public Policy) for the British Academy.
Christina was MPS first Chair from 2020-2023.
Derek Mitchell was born and raised in Ayrshire and has spent most of his working life in local government in a variety of management and public policy positions. He worked for the first Scottish Government as a Policy Advisor before joining COSLA in 2005, where he became a Chief Officer leading on work with both the UK and Scottish Governments, as well as other key stakeholders. He became Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) in August 2017. CAS is the national support organisation for Citizens Advice Bureaux across Scotland which has over 2500 volunteers and 1000 staff. The values and ethos of the service have stood the test of time and Derek’s passion and drive is to give a voice to people who otherwise would not be heard and ensuring policy makers understand the real needs of many people in Scotland when making decisions. He lives in Edinburgh.
Rebekah has spent much of her career focused on the application of knowledge and understanding to policy and practice.
Rebekah worked in academia for a number of years researching homelessness and social exclusion, before joining the Scottish Government to pursue a more applied research career. She became a senior civil servant in 2008 serving as Head of Rural and Environmental Science and Analysis and as Chief Researcher before moving to policy in 2013 as Head of Higher Education and Science. Rebekah supported a number of strategic advances during her time in Government including helping develop and set up the Centre of Expertise on Climate Change, ClimateXChange to support evidence-informed policy and practice and establishing and working with the Commission on Widening Access to support a more holistic approach to enhancing access to university.
Rebekah left Government in 2017 to become the Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, leading the organisation on a journey of change to enhance its impact and reach. She is currently Vice Principal, People and Diversity at the University of St Andrews and a member of the Board of Management of City of Glasgow College.
Nicola McEwen is Professor of Public Policy and Governance, and Director of the Centre for Public Policy at the University of Glasgow. Previously, at University of Edinburgh she was founding Co-Director of the Centre on Constitutional Change, and is also Senior Research Fellow with the UK in a Changing Europe. Nicola specialises in nationalism, devolution and intergovernmental relations, with a focus on Scotland and the UK in comparative perspective. Her current research, supported by an ESRC Senior Fellowship with the UK in a Changing Europe, examines the impact of Brexit on UK devolution and the future of the Union. Nicola is actively involved in informing the policy process and public debate, through media work, public engagement, and advice and support to parliaments and governments.
John has been Head of Scotland for the Equality and Human Rights Commission since April 2017. He also served as Scotland Director of the Equal Opportunities Commission between 2001 and 2007.
He has a strong commitment to equality and human rights with long experience in the voluntary, statutory and private sectors in Scotland and the UK. He has been an active campaigner on LGBT, gender and race issues for over twenty years.
John has previous experience of paid and unpaid roles in the voluntary sector. Prior to the EHRC he worked as chief executive of Scottish Refugee Council between 2008 and 2017 and other roles as chief executive of a Scottish HIV and AIDS organisation and Scotland Director of Carers UK.
Graduating in 1981 with a degree in chemistry John worked in engineering and marketing in the electronics and chemicals industries for over twelve years.
John has extensive experience of governance and serving on boards. He served as a member of the Communities Fund (now the Big Lottery) Scotland committee and was a member of the board of Stonewall, the UK’s leading gay and lesbian advocacy and campaigning organisation. Other roles included two years as a trustee of Citizens Advice Scotland, chair of the White Ribbon Scotland campaign, Chair of the Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector, member of the ACOSVO (Association of Chief Officers of Scottish Voluntary Organisations) board and a trustee of the University of Strathclyde Students Union.